Oh, Canada! A Look at Whiskies from The Great White North

All
you have to do is flip on the tube to see that yesteryear adored
Canadian whisky. On HBO’s "Boardwalk Empire," a series set in
Prohibition, hundreds of bottles of the stuff wash up on the Atlantic
City shore behind the opening credits each episode. And Don Draper,
anointed on AMC’s “Mad Men” as the 1960s’ coolest person of all,
seemingly drinks the spirit of our northern neighbor all day long. Well,
the market of the present is getting a pretty good dose of two as
whisky makers roll out new examples from special blends to older
expressions as well as some single-barrel and small-batch efforts (much
like its Bourbon and Scotch competition).

While
it has a markedly low profile, Canadian actually commands a fair slice
of the whisk(e)y market (about a third of sales in the United States)
and has done so since Prohibition when, overnight, its distillers became
the closest source for “the good stuff.” By the end of Repeal, the
United States had developed a taste for this lighter quaff, and the
eminently mixable spirit replaced Bourbon and, more notably, straight
rye whiskey in many classic cocktail recipes.

Today,
the whisky doesn’t typically occupy the top shelf because its greatest
virtue, smoothness, is often decried by enthusiasts who seek out spirits
with a spikier flavor profile. Canadian whisky can legally be distilled
to above 90 percent alcohol, leading some to call it “brown vodka.”
However, the resulting distillate is given great attention in the
complex aging process, which often includes assiduously artful blending.

(Since
we believe the final test for a great whisk(e)y is how it pairs up with
cigars, we married a couple—see the next page—to great effect.)

Manufacturers
have been broadening the palette by borrowing ideas from the rest of
the whisk(e)y world, while adding their own twists. In the case of
Collingwood (an offshoot of Canadian Mist), the concept of finishing
(transferring whisky to different wood at the end of the aging process)
is utilized. However, that extra time is spent in an unusual wood, one
more synonymous with Canada: toasted maple.

Another high-end Canadian,
Crown Royal Cask No. 16, undergoes a Cognac-cask finishing from which it
gets floral character and hard-candy notes with a spicy ending.
Canadian Club makes its Sherry Cask, which smacks of creamy Sherry,
raisins and chocolate. A small winemaker turned distiller, Forty Creek,
offers Port Wood Reserve, coaxing out raisins, butterscotch and plum.

The
recent Caribou Crossing is a small-batch effort. Just as with Bourbon,
the blenders know that some parts of the aging houses make better
whiskies than others. For Caribou Crossing, they find those special
casks by cherry-picking 30 to 60 barrels from a total of 225,000 to make
this issue from the company that owns Buffalo Trace. The whisky tastes
like butter-rum candy and graham crackers with cinnamon.

Extreme
aging is, of course, a stalwart method for making enhanced whisky.
Wiser’s, a favorite among Canadians but released in limited quantities
in the United States, makes an 18-year-old that was named Canadian
Whisky of the Year by Whisky Advocate
magazine for its deep rye, licorice and apricot flavors. Canadian Club
30 Year Old takes aging to a positively ancient age. The result is notes
of honey, maple, oak, toffee, pear and vanilla, along with its
consummate smoothness.

Canada
is not without its flavored efforts. Revel Stoke includes vanilla,
cinnamon, ginger and coriander, and Phillips Union has its Cherry and
Vanilla expressions. Tap 357 has a maple syrup component. But Canadian
whisky is not new to the flavoring fad. Standard Canadian whiskies are
legally allowed to include both flavoring and caramel coloring—even if
it is not noted on the label. In fact most have traditionally been
informed by a bit of Sherry or wine.

THE CIGAR PAIRING

We
chose the above mentioned Collingwood and the superpremium Crown Royal
XR to pair with two cigars on the medium-to-mild end of the spectrum:
PDR 1878 Cubano Especial Capa Natural Double Magnum (6” by 60 ring
gauge, Dominican Republic) and Crowned Heads’ Four Kicks Corona Gorda (5
5/8” by 46 ring gauge, Dominican Republic, rated in a recent Cigar Insider).

NOSE:
A vibrant nose with a spicy, root-beer candy aroma comes out at the
front, before turning to maple sugar, vanilla and caramel and ending
with bread dough.

PALATE: Initially a hint of banana, but quickly replaced with honey, Sherry, cinnamon and graham cracker.

FINISH: The graham cracker and a bit of Sherry dominate the rather long, smooth finish.

With
the PDR: The Crown Royal enjoyed perhaps the best pairing in the bunch
with the milder PDR. The whisky brought spice to the smoke, where little
previously existed and the cigar elicited nutty flavors (pistachio and
almonds) from the whiskey. Both became more nuanced.

With
the Four Kicks: While not as successful a pairing with the more
full-bodied Four Kicks, there was still some synergy. The whisky calmed
the tart cedar in the cigar, transforming it to cream. The smoke turned
the whisky doughier, almost like a cream puff.

NOSE:
The maple finish is immediately discernible on the aroma. Other sweet
notes—honey, flowers and fruit—follow, with apple cider and spicy
cinnamon.

PALATE:
At the front and on the tip of the tongue it has a hard candy sweetness
that is quickly replaced with deep red fruits, maple sugar, honey,
bread dough, licorice and cinnamon.

FINISH: Candied fruitiness at the happy ending.

With
the PDR: We were disappointed with this pairing in which the cigar
seemed to rob the whisky of some of its charm, making it doughier.
Neither did the whisky perform any favors for the cigar, blunting its
flavors.

With
the Four Kicks: Collingwood showed off its pairing ability to great
effect with Four Kicks. The whisky turned the cigar chewier, with nougat
and a nutty, candy-bar quality. The cigar returned the compliment by
dulling some of the outlying sweetness in the whisky.